Blue Ridge Technology

As an SMB leader, you know the challenges of budgeting and forecasting all too well. Certain areas of your business are trickier than others, too, with complicating factors and uneven or spiky costs. IT hardware spend is one of these challenging areas for many SMBs — especially those that keep all their IT planning and procurement in-house. Whether you’re going it alone or working with a managed IT partner, check out these strategies for simplifying and managing your annual hardware budgeting process. 1. Know What’s Due for Replacement By Planning Out Your Hardware Lifecycle If you’re like most business leaders, you’re used to a steady stream of complaints about hardware. Sometimes those complaints have to do with training or other issues, but sometimes the problem really is that the person’s computer is just too old and slow. But how do you keep track of what to replace when? By planning out your hardware lifecycle in advance. For most businesses, this means replacing every employee’s...

If your business is like most, you have plenty to worry about in terms of keeping costs low, and you’re constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency and shed costs. This just makes good business sense. Still, savvy business owners know that there are areas where cutting costs can be strategic and other areas where doing so can damage the business, perhaps irreparably. In other words, saving money by making workflows more efficient is a great idea, but saving money by skimping on quality or service could be disastrous. Where does your managed IT services partner fall into this matrix? Should you look for the absolute cheapest deal around, or is choosing bargain managed IT support something that could cause deep problems in the long run? Here at Blue Ridge Technology , we believe the right answer is to take a holistic approach to managed IT support. Often, the best deals aren’t really the best: they don’t lead to the kinds of outcomes you want for your organization. Underpayment for...

As a business owner, you’re understandably worried about digital threats to your business. One of the most persistent and frustrating threats is credential compromise, where a bad actor gains access to systems and services simply by pilfering someone’s credentials. You may have heard password managers mentioned as a potential solution to this problem. Here’s what you need to know. The Problem: Too Many Passwords, Bad Choices The typical internet user has somewhere north of 80 distinct accounts on various sites, services, platforms, and so forth. Most if not all of these are secured with a password. (Not to get too far off track, but say “most” because of newer technologies now coming into their own, like multifactor authentication and passwordless logins. These are massive improvements on the old username + password model, but they’re not yet in place on many sites and accounts. If you have the option for either one at your business for key accounts and services, turn it on right away....

Connecting Shouldn’t be a Guessing Game... Does your business rely on scheduling appointments with customers? Most do, and this process of booking customer meetings or appointments can be an intensely manual one. You, your sales agents, or a scheduling assistant spend precious time (and, therefore, money) figuring out your own schedule, asking customers or clients about their availability, and trying to align the two to find the ideal appointment time. Scale this up across dozens if not hundreds of bookings in a given month, and you’re looking at a significant resource investment. Microsoft Bookings is a powerful app within Microsoft 365 that can greatly improve the process of booking customer and client appointments. Find out what this tool can do for you in today’s blog post. Microsoft Bookings: Overview Microsoft Bookings is more than just a calendar or scheduling tool. It’s, well, a booking tool. It helps you and your customers and clients book appointments, just like you might do ...

We’ve covered phishing before on the blog, but have you heard about whaling? Put away your lifejackets: we’re talking about a specific type of targeted digital attack; no seafaring vessels in sight. (If you’ve ended up here expecting a blog post about whale-spotting or whale-hunting, you’re going to be disappointed!) This week, we’re covering whaling attacks. This type of digital attack can feel even more personal than some others—and it can be just as dangerous. Here’s what you need to know about this unique attack vector. Whaling Attacks Explained A whaling attack is one where someone (typically outside the company) imitates a high-ranking company official, usually in an attempt to steal money from the company by tricking an employee into paying a fake bill. Whaling attacks can also be engineered to steal data or credentials. We recognize that this definition is a little murky, so here’s an example. Set aside your actual role at your company for a minute. Instead, imagine you’re a br...

Begin work quicker...if that’s your thing. If your work PC seems like it’s getting too slow, your mind might immediately jump to dollar signs or danger: maybe it’s time to upgrade, which is always an expensive proposition. Or, worse, maybe you’re in danger. Maybe your PC is being slowed down by malware or some other digital threat. Those are both possibilities, of course. But there’s another much less serious or costly consideration: Windows startup. If the biggest source of slowdowns seems to be when you restart your computer, it may not be the computer. It could be all the programs that are launching at startup. And that’s something you can control. Why A Startup Inventory Matters When your computer first launches Windows, it does a number of things. One is to check the list of startup apps and then initialize each one. The more programs and apps are on this list, the longer it will take for your computer to get to its normal level of responsiveness. The thing is, over time, your sta...

Don’t pull the trigger just yet! In June 2021, Microsoft announced that a brand-new version of Windows was coming later in the year. While the tech press was expecting some sort of update, a full-fledged new major release of Windows was a surprise. But as we’ve all learned more about Windows 11, we’re growing more and more excited about the release. Your business will likely benefit from moving to Windows 11, but, in true Microsoft fashion, the rollout is going to be a bit complicated. Here’s what you need to know about the coming Windows 11 update — plus what you might need to do to get ready. When Is Windows 11 Releasing? Technically, it’s already here (as of October 5, 2021). Just not for everyone, all at once. Microsoft is taking a phased approach to the Windows 11 rollout, which makes a lot of sense in some technical ways, even if it’s going to frustrate some customers and users. In a nutshell, here’s what’s happening. Very recently purchased computers will get an automatic update...